Did you know that the four other major conferences held media days this week? Outside of the discussion of whetherJadeveon Clowney’s ‘Hit’ would be an ejection this year, the media was rather quiet about it. While the other conferences all shared the spotlight this week, the SEC shared it with no one and dominated coverage a week and a half ago.

The ACC got together last Sunday and Monday in Greensboro, two media days that just screamed college basketball. The Big 12 held their media days on Monday and Tuesday in Dallas, and the Big Ten took over Wednesday and Thursday in Chicago. Finally, Lane Kiffin and the Pac-12 brought up the rear last Friday, where the pre-game media day video said, “We run faster, elevate higher…no other conference even comes close.”

So, naturally, the SEC was a topic of discussion at other conference media days, and here’s what they said:

Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini

“I guarantee there are a lot of teams in the SEC that aren’t Alabama that wish they were Nebraska, that wish they were Michigan, wish they were Ohio State, so don’t talk to me about the SEC. Talk to me about, let’s compare specific programs.

“It’s hard to compare conference to conference but we have a lot of tradition. We’ve done a lot of good things academically and athletically, so that’s something to be proud of.”

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz

“We’ve had fast guys in our conference. We’ve had a lot of skill players get drafted throughout the years. But if you just study recruiting, I mean I think of the population swing right now to California, the South, warm weather states.

“There’s differences, and there’s a lot of ways to be effective and to be successful and you have to figure out what’s best for you at your school or conference and then just try to maximize it.”

Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer on recruiting SEC country

“When you go out and recruit now, I remember northeast Ohio, Western PA, still great football, fantastic football, but a perfect example (is) where I’m from. I’m from Ashtabula, Ohio, and my high school class, graduating class, I think had 15 people this year.

“That’s alarming because it’s great people, great communities and really great athletes in that part of the state, but it’s just dried up a little bit.”

Ohio State QB Braxton Miller

“I feel like our competition on the Ohio State level, we can compete with anybody.”

Washington State head coach Mike Leach on ESPN

“The bottom half of the Pac-12 is better than the bottom half of the SEC.”

Texas head coach Mack Brown

“I’ve never really said I want to be SEC-like. I think people said that because we wanted to run the ball better, and the SEC is a league that runs the ball really well.”

Mack Brown on Alabama and limited football staffs

“Because Alabama has had so much success, and their staff has been bigger than any of the other staffs in college football.”

Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops on his SEC comments

“I don’t really care. I am entitled to my opinion.”

Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott on SEC scheduling

“The strength of schedule with Pac-12 is unrivaled. Our teams not only host these games, we go on the road.”

Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby on playing the SEC

“I don’t think you can be the best without playing the best. We have the arrangement in the Sugar Bowl that will in most years have a Big 12 team playing an SEC team. We will also likely play the SEC in at least one other and probably two other bowl games.

“So we believe in the best playing the best, and I don’t think you can lay claim to it unless you can beat them.”

“We think we can play with anybody in the country, but it’s impossible to call yourself the best league in college football unless you can win the national championship.”

Photo Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

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COMMENTS

Nebraska wasn’t even winning the Big 12 north every year, Missouri and Kansas State were among those beating them, and didn’t Kansas beat them in the last 6 or so years? So sorry Bo, Nobody in the SEC wants to be Nebraska or Michigan, or football parolee Ohio State. Credit where due, Nebraska had Big 8 tradition but I said HAD. And I don’t want to trash talk anybody, I live near the Nebraska border and people are great up there. Just stop pretending that Bo and company are what the name used to mean and stick to working your way back up the ladder like lots of other programs are doing. Two years ago the Big 10 lost almost every bowl game, last year’s record wasn’t great either. The bottom half of the SEC doesn’t want to be a Big 10 team because that would mean having a lot worse conference record in bowl games. The SEC is also winning the head to head non-bowl games so there is zero way to back up Bo’s mouth, …. which by the way is one of the reasons Nebraska is having trouble getting better right now, meaning you can loudmouth the refs into giving you important wins. This year the SEC is again putting it’s middle and bottom half in games where the other conferences have a chance to walk instead of talk. i.e. Last year’s top 3rd Pac 12 Ariz. State got beat by SEC’s bottom 3rd Missouri. TCU is supposed to one of the top Big 12 teams this year so they can’t just squeak out a win, if they can even get 11 players to the game that are not high?

And the Big 12-4+2 could recover and be on a par with the bottom half of the SEC except Texas is going to keep as much money as possible and money is one of the commodities that help conferences get and stay strong, so you can’t keep too much of it in Austin, and Norman, no wonder you are in denial, you are being paid well to stay pretenders. Big high five to Bill Snyder however who kicks backsides in the Big 12 with less money and less talent. I don’t care if they did get spanked by Arkansas, If Bill Snyder says he thinks his program is better than the bottom half of the SEC then I am going to say at least we should consider the merit

@Dearbravesheep…. South Carolina beat Nebraska, Michigan, and Ohio State (twice) when they played them last in Bowl games. Where would you place the Gamecocks when comparing them to these teams? Pelini also said he was a better team than USC after losing the Capital One Bowl to them handedly. I think Pelini has proven himself to be a loud mouth blowhard that needs to pick his fights a little better.

SC is not a bottom tier SEC program. I would place them above those three teams. With your comments and your reply to me I’m starting to think you don’t understand what he meant by his statement. He wasn’t talking about Alabama, LSU, Georgia, SC and any other upper tier SEC teams. He was talking about the Kentucky’s, the Tennessee’s. The lower end of the conference that wouldn’t really stand a chance against the likes of Ohio State etc etc.

When people talk about the SEC they talk like no other team from another conference can compete with any SEC team. Obviously that’s not true since we saw Arkansas fall on their face against the Sun Belt and Auburn only squeak by in OT.